From January 26 to April 22, 2012

This exhibition presents various facets of Mexican artist Daniel Guzmán’s journey to uncover what allows him to recognize himself. Through drawings, videos, installations, and sculptures made from unconventional materials, Guzmán explores fundamental concepts of what it means to be human: memory and forgetting, the bond with death, pain, and absence, among other themes.

Regarding the title of the exhibition, the artist shares:
“It’s been a little over a year since my mother passed away, and the journey to her hometown in Oaxaca still hurts. Everything around me there—the house of my grandmother, the landscape, the people, the light, the food, the smell of the countryside—brings back her image, her memory. Over time, that image and memory have transformed into dark matter. It’s a question about the meaning of the things I do, the direction my life has taken, how I relate to people, my desires, and my emotions. I’ve always felt like a stranger in that land, as well as in Mexico City, but it’s something inside me—not the geography or the people around me—that divides my being. Nothing I do or say through my work or this text can fully evoke what I feel.”

Dark Matter, Guzmán explains, “is an intimate, personal, and solitary journey through that dark matter that is life itself and an integral part of the light around us—the light that comes from affection, friendship, companionship, solidarity, and the love of my parents and sisters, my family, my friends, and the women who have loved me, even when I didn’t deserve it. They are the light that has accompanied me on this journey, amidst the darkness that supports the stars and galaxies in the universe. This dark matter is the mystery we must resolve in our lives.”